Skype

[Japan-Games.com]

So since I can't seem to stop playing around with my PC, I decided to check out Skype. Pretty cool.

I got the Skype In and Skype Out packages. The Skype Out let's me make calls from my PC to regular house lines and mobile phones. Calling from Japan to America is about $0.02 a minute, I think. I just use my headset microphone.

Skype In is what's cool, tho. You can buy up to 10 phone numbers in a dozen or so countries. So I bought a number in my local city (Tucson). So when my friends want to call me it's just a local call for them. That number rings my PC in Japan.

I bought a second number with a San Francisco area code since my parents and sister lives there. Same for them, they just dial a local number and it rings my PC in Japan.

You can buy a number for $10 for 3 months or $45 for a year. You can have a max of 10 numbers. I was thinking about getting one for England, one for Germany, and one for Australia in case I need to talk to buyers there. Seems like it would be good for business.

One last cool option... I can forward my Skype In calls to my mobile in Japan. The price jumps to about $0.10 a minute but it's cool that a friend can just dial a regular US number from his mobile and reach my mobile in Japan....

[Barc0de]

go to www.voipbuster.com they have much cheaper rates (america is actually FREE for both mobile and land line) . I use it to call the US and other countries.